Brussels, 05/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - In a response to the Kok Report on the mid-term review of the Lisbon Strategy, Fintan Farrell, Director of the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) slams its inability to understand the complexity of the strategy, pointing out that it ignores the pledge made in Lisbon in March 2000 to eradicate poverty and social exclusion. The Kok Report is based on an inappropriate and old-fashioned development model and on the statement that 'growth automatically leads to cohesion' - which is not true, said Farrell, adding that it has been proven that investing in high levels of social protection does lead to high levels of sustainable growth and high quality employment. He said that in reality, while around 4.5 million Europeans are unemployed and living in poverty, the number of people working and living in poverty is more than 10 million. He added that the Kok group just didn't see this. In conclusion, the EAPN points out that it should be the role of the European Commission and not the High Level Group to set the agenda for reviewing the Lisbon Strategy. In so doing, the Commission should take account of the contributions of all stakeholders working to implement the strategy.